The Evolution of Troy and Annie
by CrystolConeticut
Summary: Just a look through all of Troy and Annie's hidden moments throughout the show... and a look at what would happen if they had 'relations'. Takes place right before Season 3.
1. The Night It All Changed

**Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted a story, hope I'm not too rusty! Heads up, this chapter is a hard T, but it will be the most inappropriate chapter in the entire story.**

**DISCLAIMER: If I owned Community, Troy and Annie would have at least kissed by now. I mean, c'mon.**

_September 2nd, 2011: The Night it All Changed_

_**You're welcome... and I hate you...and I wanna have your children.**_

_**-Annie**_

**8:43 P.M.**

"Can you come over? Jeff just broke up with me and I don't know what to do. I just need someone to talk to. Please?"

Troy blinked and looked at his phone in confusion. Why was Annie calling him and asking him to comfort her? Why not ask Britta or Shirley? And, probably the most important question: Why did Annie want him to come over to her apartment?

To most males, one answer would immediately come to mind and they would rush over there, excited and hopeful. But Troy wasn't very smart, and he assumed that Annie just wanted to talk. He felt sorry that Jeff had broken up with her, especially because their relationship had seemed so serious.

Jeff and Annie had started dating the week after school had ended, even though it turned out that Jeff and Britta had been friends with benefits for most of last year and Annie and Abed had made out a few days before school had ended. Jeff and Annie definitely had chemistry and decided to finally give dating each other a shot, and it had seemed like things had been going well.

Apparently not.

"Troy? Are you there?"

"Yeah."

"Are you coming over?"

Troy hesitated. For some reason, his mind was screaming 'bad idea!', but he did want to see her and comfort her. Ever since Jeff and Britta had made Troy realize how 'much of a woman' Annie was, Troy had had some feelings for her. Okay, so they were mostly just feelings of the sexual nature, but every once in a while he would catch himself noticing how pretty her smile was, or how cute and dainty her feet were (Troy was an odd person, so it should come as no surprise that he noticed characteristics about someone's feet). He liked her. He didn't want to be in a relationship with her, and he wanted to have sex with her, but he didn't want to _just _have sex with her. He wanted to stay really good friends with her if they did have sex, because he loved her as a friend more than he liked her as a woman or a sexual object.

And if that meant not sleeping with her so that their friendship would remain the same, then so be it.

"Troy?" Annie's voice had taken on a pleading tone.

Troy wanted to be there for her, even if it was just as a shoulder to cry on, because Troy was in love with Annie, even if he didn't realize it yet.

Man, feelings are confusing.

"Yeah, I'll be right there."

**9:02 P.M.**

As soon as Troy opened the door, Annie flung her arms around him with such force that he almost fell backwards.

"Whoa, calm down." He said, patting her back gently.

"I'm sorry; I'm just a mess right now." Annie said, smiling meekly as she walked to her couch and sat down.

_Okay, Troy, here's what you're going to do,. _His mind told him about his carefully thought-out plan. Well, as carefully as plans are thought out when they take place in Troy's mind. _You are going to talk to Annie, comfort her, and then try to cheer her up. Then, when she seems fine, you are going to leave __without having sex with her.__ If she falls asleep, you are going to carry her to her bed and __not have sex with her__. If it's really late by the time you guys are done talking, you are going to drive home through a bad neighborhood in pitch-blackness because you are __not going to have sex with her.__ You got that?_ Troy nods at his own thoughts. _Okay, good._

"Um, Troy? You can sit down if you want." Annie said, looking at him in confusion.

"Oh, yeah. Cool." Troy said, taking a seat next to her. He looked at Annie and realized two things at the same time:

1. All she was wearing were a tank top and shorts.

2. She was drinking wine.

Troy decided to focus on the latter, as to not stray from Plan DHSWA (Don't Have Sex with Annie).

"Aren't you underage?" He said, gesturing to her wine glass.

"Yeah, but it's no big deal. I've had wine before." Troy nodded. It really wasn't a big deal. After all, he'd had wine before he was 21, too.

"Do you want some?" She asked.

Troy shook his head. He knew how alcohol clouded judgment, and he had a plan to stick to.

"Okay." Annie said, shrugging.

They sat in silence for a few seconds.

"So..." Troy said, unsure how to bring up the subject. "About Jeff..."

"Jeff!" Annie wailed suddenly, burying her face in Troy's shoulder.

"It's okay, Annie." Troy said, smiling as he stroked her hair. This was nice, just stroking her hair. Totally innocent. It didn't even cross his mind how her knee was on his thigh or how her chest was pressed up against his arm or-

Damn.

Annie lifted her face from his shoulder. "I thought he was the one, you know? We had so much in common and we got along so well. I just don't know where it all went wrong." She said, her eyes watery and doe- like.

Troy's expression softened. "So you don't know why he broke up with you?"

Troy mentally kicked himself. That was probably the total wrong thing to say to someone who was on the verge of tears.

"Ummm..." Annie blushed and scooted away from Troy. "I kinda do."

"So what was it?" Troy asked.

Annie bit her lip and poured herself another glass of wine. Troy hadn't even realized she'd finished her first.

"Okay. He broke up with me because..." She wouldn't meet his eyes. "...I wouldn't have sex with him."

Troy raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"He was really patient at first! He was like 'I'll wait until you're ready' and stuff like that, but then he was all like 'C'mon, we've been dating for two months! What's stopping you? Aren't you attracted to me?' Which led to this huge fight and when I still said no he broke up with me." Annie finished, looking down and picking at a thread on the couch.

A few more seconds of silence.

"Okay. Well it's good that you didn't give into that kind of pressure." Troy said, not really sure how to handle the situation. Annie smiled, looking happy with herself. "But, and I know this question is really personal and stuff so you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but... why didn't you want to have sex with him? I mean, I'm straight, and even I know that Jeff's a hot dude, so why not?"

Annie blushed even harder and took another sip of wine. Well, more like gulp of wine. She was almost done with her second glass, and if Troy hadn't been so caught up in this newfound fact about Annie and Jeff, he probably would have been concerned about her level of alcohol consumption.

"Um, well... I've kind of never had sex before." Annie admitted, finishing the last of her glass and pouring herself a third.

Troy's eyes widened in confusion and surprise. "But what about your high school boyfriend? You know, that gay dude."

Annie probably should have been surprised that Troy knew about this, as she'd only told Britta and Shirley, but she wasn't. It was common knowledge in the group that if you told even one person about something, there was a good chance that the whole group would find out unless you specifically said not to tell them about it. Your chances were doubled if you told two people. Tripled if you told Shirley.

"I only said that we'd had sex before because Britta and Shirley were laughing at me because I've never seen a you-know-what before."

"And you never had sex with Vaughn?" Troy asked.

"No. I mean, c'mon. Who wants to lose their virginity to Vaughn? He's a stupid hippie. With no nipples." Annie giggled. "Hehe. Nipple-less hippie."

Annie was acting buzzed, and Troy notices that she's almost done with her third glass of wine. He wonders how many glasses she'd had before he came over.

"So you're a virgin?" Troy asked slowly, trying to let it all sink in.

She nodded.

They sat there in awkward silence for a few minutes.

"So, um..." Troy said uncomfortably. "I should probably-"

And before he could even react, Annie had flung one of her legs across his lap and was kissing him.

Troy pushed her away from him. "Annie! What are you doing?"

Annie flushed with embarrassment, but didn't let her confidence falter. "I want you to be my first, Troy. That's why I called you over here."

Troy looked at her blankly for a second, and then it sunk in. "Whoa! Really?"

Annie nodded.

Troy was faced with a dilemma. On one hand, he'd made a promise to himself that he wouldn't do this. On the other hand...

He really, _really _wanted to have sex with her. And here she was begging him to!

_Okay, Troy, think of the consequences. If you do this, your friendship will probably be ruined forever. Shirley and Jeff will hate you. Abed might hate you, too, because he made out with Annie and you didn't even ask him if he was okay with this. Well, it probably would have been awkward if you'd asked, but still, you should have. _Crap, this wasn't working. He still wanted to have sex with her. Okay, what would Shirley say if she found out? _Troy, I can't believe you've done this. You took advantage of poor little virginal Annie when she was in a bad place. How dare you? She was probably saving her virginity for marriage. And there are millions of other women in the world that you could have committed that sin with if you had the urge to do so. Troy, you have lost our trust forever and you're out of the group. _Troy didn't want to be out of the group. Okay, he could refuse Annie. He could do this.

"Annie, I can't have sex with you. I'm sorry, but if we do this, things will never be the same between us. It will get all awkward and then we won't be able to be friends anymore."

Annie's face dropped. "Okay, Troy, I didn't want to resort to desperation, but..." She took a deep breath. "Please, Troy. I want you. I want to touch you. I want you to touch me. I want you. To have sex with me. Right now." She said.

"Umm, I, uhh..." Troy was at a loss for words. He closed his eyes and weighed his options. Option 1: Run out of her apartment, drive through an awful neighborhood in the dead of night, and have your friendship maybe ruined anyway even though you didn't have sex because you still had this awkward conversation, or Option 2: Finally have sex with the hottest girl on the planet, who is _begging _him to do so, and who he just found out is a _virgin, _which, let's face it, makes her that much hotter. Well, then again, everything makes Annie hotter.

Troy hears a shuffling sound, and when he opened his eyes, Annie had taken off her tank top. His eyes widened.

Speaking of things that make Annie hotter.

"Annie, uh, I..." He said, his defense weakening as Annie is nearly topless. "I-I can't do this... I have to...go."

Troy starts to get up (which is difficult given his current 'state'). "I-I'm rea-"

In one swift move, Annie grabs his hands and cups her breasts with them.

Troy lets out a strangled cry. How many times had he imagined this happening? And here he was, right now, touching her boobs. Three-months-younger Troy would probably high- five him if he was here right now. Well, if that was possible.

_No, Troy. You aren't going to do this._

He looks at Annie's wide eyes, looking right into his.

Aw, damnitt.

Troy moves his hands down to Annie's hips and lifts her up, and she immediately wraps her legs around his waist. They start kissing passionately as Troy runs the 10 steps to Annie's bed, neither thinking about the consequences that the next morning would bring.


	2. The Day They Crossed Paths

**Ta- da! Here you go! **

**Really quick: ****MAKE SURE YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE DATES AT THE TOP OF EACH CHAPTER****. I cannot stress this enough, because the chapters aren't in chronological order.**

**Enjoy!**

_August 26, 2009: The Day Their Paths Crossed_

_**Admit it, we went to school together for four years and you didn't even know me.**_

_**-Annie**_

**11:47 A.M.**

"Annie Edison." Annie said to the woman behind the 'A-E' (they were organized by last names) registration table.

"Here you go, Miss Edison. Enjoy your time at Greendale Community College." The woman said in a monotone voice while she handed Annie her papers.

"Thank you." Annie said, walking away while looking at her schedule. The first class listed (but not necessarily the class she had first) was Spanish 101 in Room 113.

_113, that's past the East Stairwell, so..._ Annie frowned as she realized she was going in the wrong direction. She quickly spun on her heel and bumped into someone.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Annie uttered in surprise.

"It's cool."

Annie raised her eyebrows slightly in shock and delight. It was Troy!

"So, you're the girl who asked me what classes I was taking last week, right?"

Annie nodded eagerly. She had asked him last week on Registration Day (today was Orientation) what classes he was taking and she was taking all but two of them (while he was taking football as a Physical Education Credit she was taking martial arts, and while he was taking Biology as a science credit she was taking Advanced Physics).

"You have Spanish 101 in Room 113 listed first, right?" He asked, pointing at her and raising one eyebrow.

"Yeah, um, I just realized I was going the wrong way. Uh, I can help you find your way there, if you want. Like, if you need my help or something." Annie sputtered.

"That'd be great, thanks."

They started walking together towards the Spanish classroom and Annie could barely surpress her excitement. She was walking with Troy Barnes! She'd never walked with him before. In fact, she'd thought that he'd never even noticed she'd existed in high school, but luckily, she was wrong. He actually knew who she was! This was like a fantasy world where everything was perfect.

"So what's your name again?"

And here comes reality, there to come crush the fantasy world like an ant under its shoe. But that's okay; he hadn't heard her name for a whole two months. She hadn't told him what it was at Registration Day. He'd just forgotten. He still knew her.

"Annie."

"It's cool meeting you, Annie. I'm Troy."

Annie frowned. He didn't know her at all! But that could be a good thing. Annie always saw the silver lining in everything, and the silver lining here was that he didn't know that she was Little Annie Adderall. So this was a fresh start; a second chance to make a first impression.

And who knows, maybe this time he'll notice her.

Annie held out her hand to shake and Troy held out a fist. Annie looked at him in confusion.

Troy rolled his eyes at her. "No, like this. Make a fist." Annie did as she was told. "Now bump it." Troy said, holding out his own. Annie gingerly touched her fist to his, feeling his knuckles against her fingers. Annie smiled. "Okay, now blow it up." Troy explained, pulling back and opening his fist. Annie did the same. "Bring it back in." He made a fist again and punched hers so hard it hurt a little.

"Sloppy, but that's okay. You'll get there." He said, patting her on the back and letting his hand rest there a few seconds before bringing it back down to his side. Annie blushed.

"You know, I was actually following you back there. I saw on your schedule that you had the same Spanish class as me, and I assumed that you knew where you were going 'cause you look really smart and stuff." Troy admitted, smiling sheepishly.

Annie blushed even more. Sure, maybe 'you look really smart and stuff' wasn't much of a compliment, but it was the first comment on her appearance in a long time that wasn't along the lines of 'She looks really fat in that shirt' or 'she looks uglier than a rat' or 'she looks really high right now'.

Annie smiled. "Thank you."

Troy shrugged. "No problem."

They reached the Spanish room, and Troy held the door open for her. Annie muttered another 'thank you' and hurried inside. They arrived a little bit later than everyone else, so they had to sit on opposite sides of the classroom.

She missed him already.

**12:26 P.M.**

At the end of that Orientation period, Annie left the Spanish room, hoping to catch up with Troy (meanwhile passing by an old man who was making a racist joke about how they were at Orientation Day and their Spanish teacher was oriental) but he was already walking in the direction of the Biology Lab with a skinny Arab guy who was comparing Senor Chang to Michael Scott from the Office.


	3. The Day He Realized: Part 1

**I know how much you guys love Abed, so there's some of him in this chapter! Also, you'll see Troy develop some similarities to Jeff in this chapter, and there's a reason for that. You'll have to wait a little bit to know why, though.**

**Warning: Troy will be a bit of a pervert (in the hilarious and amusing way, not the creepy and gross way) in this story. I wrote most of these chapters while I was in smut- mode (we all get in those moods where we prefer to read and write smut instead of fluff) so this is the end result.**

_September 19, 2009: The Day He Realized- Part 1, Attraction_

_**You're Little Annie Adderall.**_

_**-Troy**_

**7:19 P.M.**

"Troy? What are you still doing here?" Annie asked in confusion. She caught up to him as he walked out the front door of Greendale.

"Abed made me stay late to help him edit his movie," Troy explained.

"Do you even have any idea how to do that?"

"No. But it was fun watching Abed do it, I guess. Except for how it was really boring and stuff." Troy glanced over at Annie and did a double- take.

"Um, why are you soaking wet?" He asked.

"I went swimming in a lake. It was our Accounting homework." She stated.

"You know we don't actually have to do that stuff, right? There's no way that Professor Whitman could ever find out if we did it."

Annie blushed at the unintentional double- entendre, and Troy also seemed to realize his mistake. He looked at Annie again and realized that she'd taken off her cardigan and tights, leaving her just in a white tank top and black skirt. Troy let his gaze fall downward to how her wet tank top had become tight and see- through, revealing the outline of the pink bra that she was wearing underneath. And now that it was late and getting cold out...

_Stop it dude. Your thoughts are getting into dangerous territory. Annie isn't hot. She's still the fat ugly girl that had a pill addiction in high school and had a nervous breakdown ending in her running through a plate glass door yelling 'Everyone's a robot!' _

Troy calmed down. He was right; she was still that same Annie. There was no way she could possibly be anyone or anything else. Because if that happened, that would mean that Troy was wrong. And Troy's never wrong, at least in his opinion.

Troy cleared his throat, looking away from Annie. He couldn't look directly at her or else he might realize how attractive she was. "Um, I didn't mean-"

"I know!" Annie squeaked. Troy risked another glance at her, and instantly regretted it. She was still there, in her wet, tight, see-through tank top and short skirt, only now she was blushing. Troy could see that her blush reached all the way down past the visible part of her chest.

Troy wondered how much lower that blush reached.

_Seriously dude, cut it out._

"But are you still going to go swimming in a lake?" Annie asked Troy, hoping to cease the- in her opinion- awkward silence. She had no idea that Troy had been too busy battling with his own thoughts about her to actually notice her. Which was pretty ironic.

"Um, no. I'm kind of afraid of lakes." Troy admitted before he could stop himself. God, why did he tell her that? She probably thought he was a loser now.

Wait, why did he care what Annie thought of him?

"Stupid fear, I know." Troy said, a little flustered.

Annie noticed this and smiled. He was embarrassed! Troy Barnes was actually embarrassed in front of her! Annie had never thought that this day would come. She obviously hadn't been hoping for it, but it was still pretty unbelievable.

"No, it's not. I actually have a pathological fear of thunderstorms." Annie admitted.

"Like from Because of Winn Dixie?" Troy asked.

Annie's face lit up and she nodded. "You read the book?" She asked, expecting him to just say that he'd seen the movie.

"Yeah, I loved that book! I can't even eat hard candy anymore, because every hard candy I eat tastes 'melancholy', and then I get all sad." Troy said, grinning.

"Me too! I swear, that is a real flavor!" Annie exclaimed, laughing.

They laughed for a few moments, before they fell into another silence, which wasn't awkward this time; it was actually pretty comfortable.

They parted ways as they reached the parking lot.

"Hey, do you need a ride? I could drive you." Annie suggested, knowing that Troy didn't have a car and had to make do with his bike.

"No, thanks. I actually have to stay here for another couple of hours; I was just stepping out for some air. I'm going to the library to study for Astronomy. That class is a lot harder than I thought it would be." He said, turning around and walking back towards the school.

Annie took a deep breath. Here was her chance to get close to Troy.

"Wait!"

Troy turned around. Annie smiled nervously.

"Like, if you need some help and stuff in Astronomy, um... maybe I could tutor you or something?" Annie asked hopefully, making it sound more like a question than a suggestion.

"Oh, yeah, that'd be cool! Could you tutor me in some of my other subjects too?" He asked, looking at her with a puppy dog face.

Annie's heart melted. "Yeah, of course! Whatever you want!"

"Oh, awesome!" Troy exclaimed. For the first time in his life, Troy had been genuinely worried that he was going to fail. Sure, he'd been in danger of failing before, but he'd never really cared until now, and he didn't know why.

Apparently _someone_ had been rubbing off on him.

Troy was so relieved that he closed the distance between them and scooped her up in a big bear hug. Annie squealed as he held her tight.

"You're awesome, Annie! You're seriously the coolest chick I've ever met!" Troy yelled.

Annie giggled and blushed at the compliments. Troy then realized how close they were-hips locked, his arms around her waist, her arms around his neck- and how little she was wearing, and promptly let her go.

"So, uh, I'll see you tomorrow." Troy said, backing up.

"Um, okay, then. Bye!" Annie said, waving in confusion.

Troy didn't even look back.

Troy shook the thoughts of Annie being hot or funny or _anything else_ except for Annie Adderall from his mind. Troy realized from an early age that if he concentrated hard enough, he could change his memories slightly. He wouldn't be studying Astronomy tonight. Instead he'd be concentrating on pushing thoughts of 'hot Annie' out of his head. Besides, he didn't need to study Astronomy, Annie would tutor him tomorrow.

Annie who he _hadn't _been attracted to tonight.

Annie who he _hadn't _realized wasn't flat-chested tonight.

Annie who he _hadn't _enjoyed being pressed up against tonight.

Troy shook his head. Feelings were just one big mess; it would be a lot easier if he just didn't have to deal with them at all.

Well, there was no point in even going to the library now. He wouldn't be able to concentrate at all. Instead, he walked right by the front door of Greendale to the bike racks, all the while chanting his mantra.

"You aren't attracted to Annie. You didn't realize she wasn't flat-chested. You didn't enjoy being pressed up against her. You aren't attracted to Annie." Troy mumbled, too deep in thought to even realize that he'd walked right by Abed, who had been standing in the doorway the entire time.

And he'd seen- and heard- everything.

The tight hug. The quick brush-off. And he'd heard Troy mumble 'You aren't attracted to Annie' when he was walking by.

Abed nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm. Interesting." Abed had thought that Britta and Jeff had been the OTP and that the Annie and Troy storyline would be pretty one-sided and consist of mostly Annie lusting after Troy and Troy basically not even noticing her. But if Troy was starting to develop feelings for Annie, too, then that changed matters drastically. They could even become the Beta pairing to Jeff and Britta's Alpha.

Abed thought about whether or not he'd try to set them up. It may be too early to try and push them towards each other.

He'd sleep on it.


	4. The Day They Searched

**Not a big fan of this one, the sentence structure specifically.**

_April 14, 2010: The Day They Searched_

_**Annie's Boobs could be anywhere!**_

_**-Troy**_

**11: 13 A.M.**

"Annie's Boobs! Annie's Boobs!" Annie called into various air vents.

"Um, what are you doing?" Troy asked, walking into the study room. He didn't have any classes right now, so he decided to come to the library to study for a Chemistry exam.

Not that he would ever admit that to anyone. As far as anyone else knew, Troy was still the same conceited underachieving jock from high school. He totally wasn't the slightly less self- possessed jock who was actually starting to like school and his classes.

Also, he totally wasn't studying more to get better grades to impress Annie.

"I walked in and saw that Annie's Boobs wasn't in his cage, I think I saw him run in here." Annie said, turning her attention back to the air ducts.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. He left me a note saying that he ran away." Troy explained with a hint of sadness.

Annie raised an eyebrow.

Troy frowned in confusion. "What?"

Annie shook her head. "Nothing." She said, rolling her eyes and giving him an amused smile. "Annie's Boobs! Annie's Boobs!"

"Remember how mad you were that I named him that?" Troy said, laughing in a slightly awkward manner.

Annie smiled in the same slightly awkward fashion. "Yeah, it's weird now though. Like, I don't even think about it as referring to me when people say it anymore. I automatically think of the monkey. Except for when, people are actually talking about.." She gestured to her chest.

Troy raised his eyebrows. He knew that guys talk about Annie's chest sometimes (guys talk about a lot of girls' chests) but he didn't know that people did it in front of her. Wow, that must put her in an awkward situation. Troy suddenly felt angry. Why were other people talking about Annie's chest? He should be the only one who got to do that.

Obviously Troy knew that this wasn't really fair. It wasn't like Annie was _his _or anything (she was actually dating Vaughn; a fact that Troy tried not to think about too often); he just felt a sense of (not very deserved) entitlement.

Annie cleared her throat. She hadn't meant to say that. She didn't know why she had. What was wrong with her? Did she want Troy to be thinking about her boobs? _Annie, you're over-analyzing this way too much. It was just a slip of the tongue, _she assured herself.

"Yeah, it's like when people started calling me Annie Adderall." Annie said off- handedly, trying to change the subject.

When Troy didn't say anything, Annie continued her search for Annie's Boobs.

"Annie's Boobs! Ann-"

"Wait a second." Troy said, drawing out his words carefully.

Annie turned to him slowly, afraid of what he was about to say.

"People used to call you Annie Adderall to your face?" Troy asked, looking concerned.

For a second, the look in his eyes made her heart flutter. Then she quickly looked away, blushing.

"Well, yeah. You know how when you have a nickname that you really don't like and you tell everyone to stop calling you it and then they keep doing it anyway, but now they're doing it for the sole purpose of annoying you? It was like that. After a while, it didn't even register as an insult anymore. People would yell 'Hey! Annie Adderall!' and I would turn around and ask 'Yeah?' without a second thought. It didn't affect me much." Annie said, trying to appear nonchalant as she lied through her teeth.

"Annie, that's awful." Troy said, looking sad. "Those were awful people who did that."

Annie frowned. "No, they were my friends."

Troy gave her an incredulous look. "Annie, a friend wouldn't make fun of a pill addiction. That's pretty serious."

"Them calling me that wasn't that big of a deal, jeez, why do you care so much?" Annie asked him. She didn't know why she was doing this, it was like she was trying to get him mad at her or something.

"Why are you defending them so much?" Troy asked, confused.

"Troy, in case you don't remember, you called me Annie Adderall- _to my face_- at the very first study session with the group!" Annie yelled, becoming frustrated.

"And if you didn't care that much than why did you get so defensive when I called you that?" Troy countered.

Annie's jaw dropped. What was she supposed to say to that? _Yeah, I lied. It hurt when people called me Annie Adderall. But that wasn't it. It hurt because you're the one who said it, Troy. And because you didn't know that I sat behind you in Algebra or that I even went to the same high school as you. You didn't even know me._

Annie looked at Troy. His jaw was set and his eyes were staring at her with frustration and anger.

Annie became angry, too. How dare Troy tell her what to think or feel? She was her own person, damnitt! She could do whatever the hell she wanted!

"You know what?" Annie said, looking the angriest Troy had ever seen her (and, by very definition, the hottest Troy had ever seen her, but he- for once- wasn't thinking about that right now).

"Find your own damn monkey." Annie practically spat in his face. And with that, she turned on her heel and walked quickly out of the room.

Troy sank to the floor, leaning against the study room table for support. There was a chair not even a foot away from him, but he didn't think he could make it even that far. It was like there was a huge hole in his stomach that made him feel empty and alone. And the worst part was... he didn't even know why.

Yeah, Troy had alot of searching to do.

But it wasn't a monkey he had to find.

**Thoughts?**


	5. The Day They Bonded

_September 27, 2009: The Day They Bonded_

_**Yeah, but...I know you now.**_

_**-Troy**_

**11:16 A.M.**

Annie walked out of the Psych Lab and stumbled over something.

"Troy? What are you still doing here?" Annie asked in confusion, looking down to see Troy curled up in a fetal position on the floor. Annie had a sudden sense of deja vu, and remembered that she'd asked him that exact thing about a week ago when she'd found him after she'd jumped into a lake. Annie smiled as she remembered the conversation they'd had that night, and how easy things had been between them. They were friends. Finally.

"I couldn't gather the strength to leave. The world just...doesn't make sense anymore. I sat in that room- that prison cell of a room- for three hours, just waiting for something, _anything _to happen... and nothing did. Is this what life is like? Is it just like the first season of Lost? One big lack of payoff?" Troy asked, staring straight ahead.

If anyone else had been listening to this, they would have laughed at Troy's utter stupidity. But because Annie was who she was, her heart broke for him.

"There is meaning to life, Troy, I promise! Here, follow me." Annie said, starting to walk before realizing that Troy was still on the floor.

"Can you help me up?" Troy asked softly.

Annie sighed and knelt down, grabbing onto his wrists and dragging him to the Psych Lab. Troy was surprised that she was actually strong enough to do this.

Troy scooted back when they reached the lab. "Oh no, I can't go in there again."

"C'mon, Troy. Just try, you can do it." Annie stepped in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders. She looked deep into his eyes and brought her face close to his. For a second he thought she was going to kiss him.

"I believe in you." Annie told him. Her breath smelled minty and fruity at the same time, which you think would smell awful, but it actually smelled delicious.

_Annie believes in me._

Troy took a deep breath and stepped into the room. He realized that it was fine, it wasn't the room he was afraid of, it was being alone in the room with nothing to distract him from his thoughts...

...or feelings.

"Are you okay?" Annie asked him, smiling encouragingly.

"Yeah, I'm good." Troy said, patting her shoulder reassuringly, as if she was the one whom should be pitied.

"Hey, while we're here... could you maybe help me clean up? Professor Duncan stormed out of the room and everyone else just kind of sulked out." Annie explained.

Troy looked around the room, surveying the mess of fallen chairs and scattered belongings. It was going to be alot of work, but he had no plans. And Annie would be here, so that was a plus.

Wait, why was that a plus?

Troy shrugged and picked up a few chairs, stacking them. Annie smiled and did the same.

"So I didn't know you were afraid of lakes _and _classrooms." Annie said teasingly. She immediately regretted it. _That was really mean, _she thought. _I shouldn't have said that._

"Oh, pardon me, Miss Hides-under-her-blanket-during-thunderstorms. What else are you afraid of, Evil Chuckie?" Troy raised an eyebrow, but smiled to show that he was kidding.

Annie turned beat red. "I saw one of the movies when I was three! It's not my fault!"

"No way!" Troy said, sitting down in one of the upright chairs.

"C'mon, a fear of lakes is a more irrational fear than a fear of Evil Chuckie!" Annie exclaimed, sitting down next to him.

"Not really. Drowning is a real possibility. Being chased around your apartment by a possessed toy isn't." Troy explained.

"But you're not afraid of _drowning, _you're afraid of _lakes. _And okay, fine, maybe your fear 'trumps' mine, but you probably have more than one. What else are you afraid of?"

"Ok, but you have to promise not to laugh." Troy said.

"Don't worry, I won't." Annie assured.

Troy raised an eyebrow and held out a pinkie. Annie smiled faintly. Of course to him a pinkie was more binding than a contract, him and all his childlike wonder.

Annie hooked her pinkie with his and he held his there a second longer than necessary before pulling back.

"Okay, I'm afraid of lakes, rats, tarantulas, and automatic toilets." Troy admitted.

Annie raised her eyebrows at the last one but, true to her word, didn't laugh. "I'm afraid of thunderstorms, bees, spiders, and failure."

"Hmm. I think we should call it a draw." Troy said.

Annie was going to say that her fears definitely trumped his, but decided to just let it go. "Okay, fine." She conceded.

"So... you're afraid of failure?" Troy asked, turning to face her.

"Well, yeah. Why else do you think I got addicted to pills?" Annie snapped.

Troy frowned.

"I'm sorry." Annie sighed. "Have you ever seen the movie Three Idiots?"

Troy shook his head.

"I'm sure Abed will show it to you sometime. It's the best movie I've ever seen, but there's this one part where a professor- the antagonist- says that no one ever remembers the man that came in second. And even though the whole plot of the movie revolves around why you shouldn't believe that, I just couldn't get past it." Annie shared. "In high school, I was having trouble focusing on schoolwork because I kept thinking about-"

She looked at him and blushed.

"-other things. I got a prescription for Adderall, and before I knew it, I was taking two times the _weekly _dose _daily. _I know it sounds like a stupid thing to do, but I just couldn't handle the pressure." Annie said, eyes on her lap.

"Hey, you don't have to preach to me about pressure." Troy said, giving her a sarcastic smile.

Annie knitted her brow in confusion.

"That keg flip, the one that cost me my scholarship..." Annie looked at him expectantly. "I dislocated my shoulders on purpose. A scout was coming to the state championship and I just couldn't take it. What would happen if I lost the championship in front of everyone? Think of how hated I'd be."

Annie's face crumpled. "Troy, if it helps, I could never hate you." Annie said, putting her hand on top of his.

Troy looked down at their hands and then back at her face. "It does. Thanks."

Annie's face brightened. "You're welcome."

**12:40 P.M.**

"I couldn't just _let it go_, you know? So after that, my parents cut off all contact with me. I've had to live off of my life savings for the whole summer. I don't mean to sound whiny, but it kind of sucks, you know?" Annie asked, waiting for his reaction.

Troy nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm really sorry."

"I haven't seen my brother in months, he's only four. My parents got divorced right after having him. What if they erase all traces of me from their life? All of my other relatives are on their side, too. Think about it, if I never speak to them again..."

She looked at him, and he could see all of the pain in her eyes.

"...he won't even remember me. He'll never even know I exist." Annie said, her voice barely above a whisper.

And then she couldn't take it anymore. She burst out crying.

"Annie, it's okay, really." Troy said, pulling her close to him and resting his chin on her head. Sure, her hair was greasy and her makeup was messy and her eyes were bloodshot, but it didn't matter. All Troy cared about right now was making her feel better.

"Annie, I'm here. I'm here for you." Troy whispered into her hair.


	6. The Day He Deliberated

_April 17, 2010: The Day He Deliberated_

_**"She had a pill addiction, and acne, and a nervous breakdown that ended with her running through a plate glass window yelling 'Everyone's a robot!' "**_

_**-Troy**_

**4:12 PM**

"Troy, when are you going to put your phone away?" Abed asked without taking his eyes off of the TV screen.

Troy paused his thumbs over his keypad- which didn't really matter, because they were really just roaming aimlessly as he had no idea what to say- and turned his head to give Abed an exasperated look.

"I don't know, later. Abed, I'm busy." Troy was being uncharacteristically cool towards his best friend.

"Well, you're the one who wanted to watch this movie, and unless you speak Hindi, you can't understand what's going on unless you read the subtitles, so..." Abed trailed off.

Troy looked at the screen just as the scene switched. It showed Raju, Farhan, and Chatur (Silencer) all driving to find Rancho.

"Three Idiots is a really great movie." Abed stated. He loved that he could actually talk during this movie, as he usually couldn't (he actually could, but didn't like to) during a movie when he was with someone who'd never seen it before.

"I'm surprised you actually suggested it to me. You know, the part where Rancho gets in an argument with his Engineering professor about whether it's best to just blindly memorize the definition to something or to put it in your own words so that it sticks with you is one of the best scenes I've seen in any movie. It would have been a really good scene even if they _hadn't _had Rancho go back and get his book, but the fact that they added that is just-"

"Abed, seriously." Troy snapped, putting his fingertips to his temples.

There was a moment of heavy silence as (ironically) _Silencer_ was heard on the screen making fun of Rancho's job as a teacher.

"You should tell her you're sorry." Abed said quietly.

"It's not my fault! I didn't do anything! I was just trying to help her and she kept defending everyone who made fun of her! It's like she put up this wall or something, Abed, and I don't know what to do! She's mad at me, she doesn't trust me, and she won't let me in. How do you think that makes me feel?" Troy practically shouted. He couldn't help it; it was as if everything he was feeling was just bubbling over the surface.

"I don't know, Troy, how does that make you feel?" Abed asked in a calm tone even though Troy was practically exploding next to him.

"What are you, a therapist?" Troy muttered rhetorically. He was starting to simmer down, at least.

"Judging by the way you've been looking at your phone for the last hour and a half, and by the fact that you still haven't typed anything in, I'd say that you feel pretty bad. So why don't you just say it? You guys haven't spoken more than three words to each other in two weeks." Abed blinked, cocking his head to the side.

Troy let out a deep breath. "Abed, I really don't get you. You can be, like, the smartest person ever sometimes and know exactly what's going on and how to handle it, and other times things can just fly over your head."

"Troy, I think what's flying over your head is that you have feelings for Annie." Abed stated bluntly. There, he'd said it.

Troy opened his mouth to say something, but Abed carried on.

"I also know exactly what's going on. You don't want to seem weak to Annie, or maybe to yourself, or maybe both. That doesn't matter. The point is, right now Annie thinks that you're a huge jerk, and that can't feel good. Also, if you apologize, Annie won't think you're weak, she'll think you're sweet. But the longer you wait, the madder she'll initially be that you didn't apologize sooner, so really, Troy, you're just hurting yourself and your own chances." Abed finished, pleased with himself for giving such a great speech.

"Wow, Abed, that was... really insightful. Thanks." Troy nodded his head, and Abed gave a half-smile.

"But you know she's going out with Vaughn, right?" Troy asked, and he left it hanging in an odd place, as if he should have elaborated why that mattered.

"To be blunt, being in a relationship hasn't been enough to stop some people to hook up with others. But even so, why does that matter? Why does it have to be love or hate between you two? You guys can just be friends for now." Abed explained.

Troy pushed the last two words Abed had said out of his mind and brought his attention back to the task at hand- literally- which was sending Annie an apology text.

**I'm sorry**

There. Short, sweet, and to the point. Which Abed siad that Annie would like. And she would.

So... why couldn't he send it?

Troy's thumb was hovering over the **send** button, just centimeters away, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

_"Who was the first man on the moon?" Professor Viru (Virus) asked an auditorium filled with college students._

Troy looked at the subtitles on the screen which he and Abed had been ignoring for the last couple of minutes, wlling for the movie to be able to take his mind off of Annie.

_Silencer raised his hand as the rest of the auditorium muttered a response. "Neil Armstrong, sir."_

Hmmm. Maybe he shouldn't send her the text. After all, it would be much better to tell her in person.

But Troy knew that he'd never be able to say it in person, and that he was just convincing himself that he would so that he wouldn't have to seem weak by texting her it. It was ironic how he was too weak to tell her in person that he was sorry, yet in his opinion saying it at all would be weak.

_"Obviously it is Neil Armstrong. We all know it." Virus replied. "Who was the second?"_

_Everyone in the auditorium looked at each other confusedly, drawing blanks._

Troy's finger hovered over the **delete **button as he looked down a bit in shame. He _should_ send the message, but he knew he wouldn't. He couldn't.

_"Don't waste your time, it's not important." Virus looked at the crowd and held up two fingers. _

_"Noone ever remembers the man who came second."_

**Send.**

**So can you tell I really love the movie Three Idiots? Check it out if you haven't seen it, it's the best movie I've ever seen. And believe me when I tell you I'm like a female Abed (although, admittedly, not nearly as awesome) .**

**I didn't really like this chapter, but I just couldn't get this idea out of my head. If you didn't understand what happened, I suggest reading The Day They Bonded and The Day They Searched again.**

**If you can't tell, this story is going to be **_**very**_ **self- referential, so make sure you read each chapter thoroughly! Also, if you couldn't tell, this takes place right after Troy and Annie get into their argument over her nickname in high school (The Day They Searched).**

**Hope you all liked this! I know, not any Annie, and a lot of Abed, but Abed is going to play a big role in this story, and in some parts it will just be Troy and him.**

**-CC**


	7. The Night They Gave In

**So as far as I know, all of you guys love smut (one of my reviewers even requested it) so you'll love this! **SPOILER ALERT IN THE NEXT SENTENCE, DON'T READ IF YOU WANT THE CHAPTER TO BE A SURPRISE** It's more of a makeout chapter than a smut chapter (sorry), but this idea popped into my head and I just couldn't get rid of it.**

**Random, but the quote below is one of my favorite Troy/Annie quotes ever(:**

_October 31, 2010: The Night They Gave In_

_**What's going on and how can I help?**_

_**-Troy**_

**7:18 P.M.**

"Err, err, errh." Troy said as he moved robotically in his costume. On the last move, he swung his arm too far and accidentally knocked into the punch bowl, causing it to spill.

"Troy!" Annie yelled angrily, looking down at the stained apron to her Little Red Riding Hood costume. The stain wasn't too bad, but it was still noticeable.

"Oh. Sorry, Annie." Troy said unapologetically, trying not to laugh. He and Annie hadn't been getting along alot lately, so he actually found the incident a little funny.

"Whatever." Annie said, glaring at him and storming off to the bathroom to wash her costume.

Jeez, what was her problem? It was just a little spill, no big deal. Troy shrugged and ignored the gnawing feeling in his gut.

"Hey, An-" Abed said as Annie passed him.

"I'm not in the mood, Abed." Annie snapped, not breaking her stride.

Abed approached Troy. "What's wrong with Annie?"

Troy shrugged. "I accidentally spilled some punch on her and now she's super pissed at me. I don't know why, though, I even apologized and she just ran off."

Abed nodded thoughtfully. "I think I know why. Troy, do you remember how at the beginning of last year Jeff and Britta bickered constantly?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah, because they had all that sexual tension."

"Yes," Abed said, trying to be cautious about how he broke this news to Troy. "And it only ended when they finally gave in to their lust for each other and had sex during paintball."

Troy nodded. "What are you trying to say, Abed?" He asked. He really didn't need to be reminded of his friends having sex right now.

"I'm trying to say that the reason you and Annie fight all the time is because of your sexual tension." Abed said, throwing caution out the window.

Troy was taken aback. "What? Annie and I do _not _have sexual tension." He stated.

Abed gave him one of his signature 'looks'. "Yes you do. Do I even need to mention 'the Incident?'." Troy looked down at the ground and actually blushed a bit at the memory. "The reason you guys fight all the time is because you secretly want to rip off each others clothes. The reason you yell is because you want to moan. The reason you tear into each other is because-"

"-Okay, this is getting entirely too graphic for my taste." Troy said, shaking his head and turning to walk away.

"Just apologize to her, Troy." Abed called after him.

Troy turned around.

"What could it hurt?" Abed shrugged.

Troy shook his head. Abed was wrong, that wouldn't help things at all.

And- for reasons totally unrelated to the fact that he had disappointed Annie-this costume was starting to make him feel like a real loser.

7:35 P.M.

After changing his costume in record time, Troy set off to go find Annie. He'd had a sudden change of heart, and decided that the right thing to do would be to apologize to her.

He looked all around the party but still couldn't find her. He figured she was in the bathroom washing the stain out of her apron.

Troy walked up to the women's bathroom door and knocked on it (there was only one stall in there so he knew that she would be the only one inside).

"Annie, are you in there? It's Troy."

Annie angrily flung open the door, not looking at him. "What do you want, Troy?" She practically spat.

"I want to apologize." Troy said.

Annie looked at him suspiciously. "You do?"

"Yeah. And not just for the punchbowl thing. I've been kind of snappy to you lately and stuff, and you don't deserve that." Troy said earnestly.

Annie smiled softly, all traces of anger gone. "Thanks, Troy. That means alot. And I know that I've been kind of mean to you too, so I'm sorry about that."

Troy smiled. "So... we're good, right?"

"We're good." Annie confirmed.

They moved a little closer to each other, going in for a hug, and it was at that moment that they both simultaneously noticed something.

Troy noticed that Annie wasn't wearing her apron or cloak, and her shirt was tighter than what she usually wore.

Annie noticed that Troy wasn't wearing a shirt. She'd never seen Troy shirtless before.

They stood there awkwardly for a second before Troy caught Annie staring at his chest, and Annie caught Troy doing the same.

Troy, embarassed, started to walk away from the uncomfortable scene, but was stopped by Annie throwing her arms around him and pulling him into a hug.

Startled, Troy stood there a moment before putting his arms around her waist and hugging her back.

And that should have been the end of it, right? They should have hugged (which friends do all the time) and then they would have walked away from each other, pushing the awkward moment that had happened seconds before out of their minds forever.

But that wasn't the end of it. Why? Because this wasn't a 'friend' hug, or at least it wasn't from Annie's end. She... pressed.

Troy realized what Annie was doing, and so he tested the waters by movings his arms from around Annie's waist to around her hips.

Annie responded by moving her hands from Troy's neck to his shoulders, and then to his biceps.

Troy pulled away from her- though he kept his arms where they were- and looked at Annie's face, his eyes questioning.

Annie's eyes screamed yes.

Troy pressed his lips against hers almost frantically. Annie immediately responded by pulling him into the bathroom. Within seconds Troy had lifted her up onto the sink and she had wrapped her legs around his waist.

Troy pulled away suddenly. "Should we really be-"

"-shut up." Annie said, pulling him in for another kiss. Troy obliged.

Now, if they had been paying attention, they would have noticed that the one bathroom stall was locked, and there were two sets of legs visible from under the door.

"Is that-" A female voice asked.

"Shut up." A male voice responded. No other sounds could be heard from the stall as the people inside waited for Troy and Annie to leave so that they could go back to their hooking up.

But Troy and Annie didn't show any signs of stopping soon. They were full- on making out now, and Troy's hands were exploring Annie's ass, thighs, and hips while Annie's were exploring Troy's arms, chest, and abs. Her nails scratched at his hair and she tore off his 'Dracula' toilet seat cover collar and crumpled it in her hands.

Suddenly, the bathroom door flew open and Abed ran in.

Troy and Annie flew apart from each other and tried to pull themselves together, though it was obvious that they had just been fervently making out, especially because Annie's legs were still wrapped around Troy's midsection.

"Abed! Um, we were just-" Troy started.

"Yes, you were just giving into your sexual tension, I know. That's not important right now. Right now, people are biting each other and turning into zombies. Obviously, this is a huge problem, so I suggest that we all forget about you two making out, or at least put it on the back-burner for now. Our main objective is getting out of here before we all die. Follow me." Abed said in his usual deadpan tone, turning around.

Troy and Annie shot each other shocked looks before untangling themselves from one another and walking out with Abed.

Abed stopped suddenly and turned around, causing both Troy and Annie to bump into him.

"You too, Jeff and Britta."

Jeff swore before opening the stall door and walking out, a very guilty- looking Britta folllowing close behind. Jeff himself carried his usual air of indifference.

Annie's jaw dropped. "What? Were you guys just..." She dropped her voice to a whisper "... doing it?"

"So what if we were?" Britta replied, sticking her chin out. "You guys were just dry- humping out in the open."

"That's not as bad as doing it in the school bathroom stall!" Annie practically shrieked. "Britta, I _use _that toilet."

"Yeah, well we do too. Just for other purposes." Jeff smirked.

"Ugh." Annie rolled her eyes at him. "You two are seriously disguisting."

"Spoken by the girl who was just sitting on a sink." Britta responded with a raised eyebrow.

Annie blushed and mumbled something incoherent.

"Wow. Double- standard much?" Britta asked.

"Hey, that's enough you guys." Troy said, finally stepping into the conversation. Annie smiled at him gratefully.

"I agree." Abed nodded. "While this exchange is entertaining and definitely shows sign of character development and hurt feelings- as you all harbor feelings for each other- we have bigger fish to fry. For instance, the flesh- craving zombies in the library." Abed said.

They all hesitated, then nodded, walking out of the bathroom.

Instead of Annie throwing away Troy's 'Dracula' collar, she shoved it into her skirt pocket.

**11:53 P.M.**

Annie sat down in the chair nearest to her her and concentrated, trying to remember the night's events, but she kept coming up blank. Annie sighed and walked over to where Troy and Abed were standing.

"Do you guys remember anything?"Annie asked them, trying to read their expressions. Troy's looked just as blank as hers, and Abed had that same expression he always did.

"Me neither." Annie frowned as she looked at Troy's t- shirt and jeans. "Troy, why aren't you wearing a costume? I thought you and Abed were going to match."

"It's weird, right? I have no idea." Troy answered in a confused tone.

"Actually, I do remember you changed your costume to a 'sexy Dracula' halfway through the party. You had toilet paper rolls around your wrist and a toilet seat cover around your neck that said 'Dracula'." Abed stated.

Annie looked at Abed suspiciously. Why hadn't Abed told them that before? And why was he telling them now?

What else was he hiding?

Troy, as usual, was oblivious. "Wow, really? Why?"

"I'm not sure." Abed said, looking at Annie.

Now Annie was getting paranoid. What if Abed did know? Why wasn't he telling? Did it have something to do with her? Did it have something to do with her and Troy?

Annie met Abed's gaze. He didn't waver.

"Annie, we're going to go watch Marmaduke now. Would you like to join us?" Abed asked, in what was (in at least Annie's opinion) a very creepy manner.

"No, I'm good." Annie said slowly.

Troy looked between the two of them. "Okay, this is getting weird. I'm gonna leave now. Bye, Annie. See you outside, Abed."

Annie 'hmm'ed' as a reply. Abed didn't even blink, he just kept staring right at her.

Annie was starting to feel uneasy. She shifted from foot- to- foot uncomfortably, leaning a little more each time, until she finally had her hip resting against the table next to her.

She heard a soft crinkling noise, like the crunching of paper. Annie reached into her pocket (she mainly did this to have an excuse to look away from Abed's intense gaze) and pulled out Troy's 'Dracula' toilet cover.

Annie turned it over in her hands, trying to work out what had happened. Why did she have this? How did she get this?

Annie looked at Abed, searching his eyes for answers. He just simply cocked his head to the side.

And then Annie remembered. It was just quick flashes; Troy putting Annie down on the sharp coldness of the sink, Troy's tongue touching hers, him rubbing up against her...

... but then it was gone. Annie tried to grab hold of it again, but it was useless. There was no getting it back.

"Bye, Annie." Abed said, turning to walk away.

"Wait, Abed!" Annie called after him. He turned around.

Annie tried to form words, but she couldn't force any sounds from her lips. She cleared her throat and looked at him, furrowing her eyebrows. "I- I don't understand." She said dejectedly. It was the first time in her entire life she'd admitted to not knowing something.

Abed nodded and looked at her thoughtfully. He took a deep breath before launching into his explanation. "Annie, some things in life should be forgotten, and some should be remembered, but we never truly forget. Everything we do and say _can_ be remembered; we just forget to remember. You just have to remember how to remember. But, if you forget to remember, you must then remember how to remember in order to remember what you've forgotten. So if you want to remember what happened tonight, you must not forget how to remember so you can remember what you forgot. And you must search deep in your mind for the memory you forgot but wish to remember. Remember, Annie. Remember."

Abed started walking backwards out of the study room.

"Remember, remember, remember." Abed said the word a little softer each time until he was out of Annie's sight.

Annie just stood there, dumbfounded, and watched him go.

In case it wasn't obvious, his speech did nothing to help her organize her thoughts.

**Special thanks to my best friend Rebecca for coming up with Abed's speech at the end, I would NEVER be able to write something that awesome.**

**So yes, an 'incident' was mentioned, and you will find out what that incident was soon, but be patient. In order for this story to flow, the chapters all have to be in the correct order, so any reveal of anything can't be rushed.**

**Just in case your curious, no event that I've mentioned/going to mention will conflict directly with any event that's happened in the show. In other words, there will be mentions of previous events and characters will react appropriately, and no scenes will replace others. No part of any footage will be changed.**

**This chapter is an exception to that rule, howver, so I'm going to explain how to watch the episode while also including this scene in the back of your brain, if that makes sense. Okay, so the beginning is set right after she's pointing at Starburns' infected arm and yelling after he's been bitten by Pierce. She goes to get a drink and Troy spills punch on her. The second part where Troy goes to apologize is set right after he's talking to Abed about how now he's a sexy Dracula. The part where everyone leaves the bathroom and goes back to the group (well, Shirley) is a little trickier. I picture it as the scene where Troy yells "Holy crap, Leonard's a zombie!" except for the fact that Jeff and Britta are already talking to Shirley when Troy and Abed show up, and that when Troy comes back he's still wearing his Dracula seat cover. As for the ending, just picture the last scene of the episode except instead of going to Rich with coffee Annie walks up to Troy and Abed, who are already in the middle of walking out of the school to watch Marmaduke. Sorry for the ridiculously long explanation, if you're like me you're a sucker for continuity, so I always try to establish that.**

**I love reviews like the Dean loves dalmations, Greendale, Jeff, and ABBA.**

**-CC**


	8. The Day They Fell

_November 11, 2010: The Day They Fell_

_**You like puzzles, and little monsters on your pencil, and some guy named Mark Ruffalo.**_

_**-Troy**_

**2:13 P.M.**

Annie and Troy just stared at each other from across the empty study room, Troy leaning against one propped- up study table, while Annie still safely concealed behind the other.

After the group had stripped down and found nothing, they decided they would split up and search in the library for Annie's pen (they each had someone else with them to make sure that someone wouldn't plant the pen somewhere and just act like they'd found it when really they'd had it the whole time).

Everyone was silent as Jeff and Britta told everyone where they were going to go; they were in charge, after all. They decided that Shirley, Pierce, and Abed would take the part of the library behind the study room and that they would take the part of the library in front of the study room. As soon as the roles were assigned, everyone involved quickly dressed and left.

They didn't say anything to Annie and Troy about where they should go, and perhaps if Jeff and Britta had stuck around longer they would have realized this, but even when assigning roles they seemed unfocused, and they ran out of the study room together faster than anyone else when it was time to start looking.

Anyway, now Troy and Annie were the only ones left in the study room. They still hadn't said a word to each other, and you could cut the tension with a knife. Not _sexual _tension of course, just, ya' know, tension because Annie thought that he might have stolen her pen and all.

The two hadn't so much as broken eye contact in over ten minutes. Finally, though, the silence came to an end.

"Was it you?" Annie whispered, and Troy finally looked away. Not guiltilly, though, for it was only to roll his eyes at her ridiculous question.

Troy was actually somewhat offended that she would accuse him (but, to be fair, she was desperate to find her pen and he was the only other person in the room). He looked up at her again, fully prepared to tell her off, until he saw the look on her face.

Damnitt, she looked close to tears.

Troy's anger melted away instantly, replaced by what everyone else feels when they see Annie's Disney eyes. Sympathy.

And, also, confusion. Was Annie upset that someone in the study group had betrayed her? Or was she specifically upset because she thought that the thief was him?

Troy really hoped that it was the latter. A few months ago, he would have asked himself why he hoped that Annie could trust him, but he was long past denying whatever feelings he might harbor for her.

"Troy." Annie whispered, her voice shaking,

"Aww, Annie, it's okay." Troy said, walking over to her and giving her a hug. It probably should have felt more awkward than it was, considering they were both in their underwear (and considering the recent 'incident' that had occured, which also involved underwear) but it just felt right.

Troy pulled away from Annie and the table (Annie hadn't stepped out from behind the table, so they had simply hugged around their shoulders) and faced her. Annie was now covered in a heated blush that reached further than the table line, but Troy's gaze never left her eyes.

"You can trust me." He said, rubbing her shoulder gently.

Annie looked up at him and knew, in that moment, that she could.

"I'm here for you. Always. Even when all of these other assholes leave you high and dry." Troy said, the last part jokingly.

Annie laughed, and so did Troy, and pretty soon they were both on the floor laughing and they didn't even know why. Whether it was because of the stress they had been under for the last few hours, or because all of this drama had driven them to the point of insanity, or because they were just delirious, they were cracking up. Troy, who was laying down on the floor, turned his head to the right just as Annie turned her head to the left. They were both smiling so hard their faces hurt, and now Annie was in tears because of joy, not because of sadness or desperation.

It's very rare in life that two people fall in love with each other at the exact same moment, but it happened. They stared at each other, still giggling, for at least three more minutes before they simultaneously burst out into laughter again, this time so hard that their bodies shook and their sides ached.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Annie and Troy looked up to see Pierce, Abed, and Shirley standing in the doorway to the study room.

Annie and Troy quickly got up, Annie returning behind the study table.

"Uh...I...we were just-..." Annie sputtered as they both turned red.

"I just told Annie a joke and then she started laughing. Then I started laughing, and we both just fell to the floor laughing." Troy quickly explained.

"Oh! Well, what was this joke?" Shirley asked, looking at him expectantly.

"Umm..." Troy said, not wanting to reveal that he'd called them all assholes. He glanced at Annie nervously, who just shrugged in return.

"What's going on here?" Jeff asked as he and Britta strolled into the study room.

"Jeff, Britta, where were you? We tried to meet up with you in the library but you were nowhere to be found." Shirley asked.

Britta subconciously smoothed her hair (partially to avoid meeting Shirley's judgemental gaze, partially because it _did _look a little mussed) while Jeff just ignored the question altogether.

He looked around. "Why are Annie and Troy still in their underwear?"

Annie squeaked as she realized that Jeff and Britta could see her in her state of undress from the spot where they were standing.

Britta furrowed her eyebrows for a second before raising them. "Oh my god, were we dumb enough to leave you two alone together?" She asked in disbelief.

Annie and Troy looked at each other in confusion. Um, _what?_

Britta looked between them suspiciously. "You guys didn't have sex, did you?"

Annie and Troy looked at each other, wide- eyed, before quickly looking away.

"What? No!" Troy practically yells.

"Jeez, Britta! Why do you always think that everyone's having sex?" Annie asks, horrified.

Britta pinkens slightly and surreptitiously avoids Jeff's gaze. No one seems to notice.

"Okay, _this _is the end of the line." Jeff says, drawing everyone's attention away from Bitta's embarassed expression. "We've stripped, we've searched in the hallway and in the library, and still _no pen_. Now, here's what we're going to do." He said, sitting in front of the boys' (still propped- up) table.

Jeff gestured between Troy and Annie. "You two are going to get dressed." They nodded and started picking up their clothes. "And then we are going to sit down and have a _long _conversation about this phantom pen."

Annie and Troy quickly dressed and sat down with the rest of the study group. Annie sat next to Abed and he could feel her tense up every time that Troy looked in her general direction. Abed could tell that something was off and tried to catch Troy's eye, but Troy kept looking away whenever their eyes would meet.

Abed frowned. Something was up here.

And he was going to get to the bottom of it.

**Ooh, cunning Abed! In case you can't tell, I absolutely adore Abed, and I can't resist having him be a major part in this story.**

**So... was it too corny? I kind of thought it was, but writer's block leads to desperate measures, including putting up chapters that you're not 100% happy with.**

**Could you tell I was kind of at a loss for the quote here? I just couldn't think of one, so I hope that one's fine.**

**I'm also a Jeff/Britta shipper (in case that wasn't obvious from the last two chapters); I just really love the dynamic between them; whether you see them as lovers or siblings, you can't NOT love those two together.**

**Hope you guys liked this! Let me know!**

**-CC**


	9. The Day of the 'Incident'

_October 9, 2010: The Day of The 'Incident'_

_**I named it Annie's Boobs, after Annie's boobs.**_

_**-Troy**_

**4:18 PM**

"So... crazy day, huh?" Annie asked sheepishly, putting a lock of oil-clad hair behind her ear.

Abed nodded and Troy really tried to keep his eyes on Annie's face.

"Yeah, I'd say it's been a pretty interesting day all around in terms of character development. You and Britta made up for all the tension you had with each other because of Jeff at the beginning of the year, and I'm not going to be a father. Which isn't a bad thing for everyone, I just personally don't think I'm up for the challenge yet." Abed stated with a blank face.

Annie's eyes widened. "Wait, what? You were almost a father? What did I miss?"

"Yeah, what's going on dude?" Troy asked, equally confused.

"Don't worry about it. There's not going to be a pregnancy- into- parenthood story arc (at least not for me) so we don't have to worry about ruining the series with dramatic pregnancy fillers or suspensful buildup that leads to lack of payoff." Abed assured them.

Troy and Annie exchanged a confused look.

"Oh...kay, then." Annie said in a bewildered tone just as Troy's phone buzzed.

He took it out just as Abed nodded. After he read the text, he put his phone back into his pocket and waved at both of them.

"That's Pierce. He said he's gotta go home to charge his mom- lava- lamp thing so I gotta leave too if I'm gonna catch a ride with him."

Abed and Annie both waved as Troy turned around and started walking across the courtyard.

"Abed, is it okay if I change in your dormroom? I really don't want to get my car all oily by driving home like this." Annie explained.

Abed nodded. "Sure. I'm probably going to go down to the cafeteria and get an ice cream anyway, Troy was really taunting me with his. C'mon, I'll let you in."

"Okay."

Abed turned and started walking back towards Greendale, with Annie trailing behind him.

4:26 PM

Troy was about to reach Pierce's car; Pierce wasn't there, though, and Troy sighed. He hated having to wait for Pierce to unlock the doors, because every time Pierce saw Troy leaning against his car he always went to attack him and accuse him of stealing it until he realized it was Troy, not some random hoodlum.

A _buzz _from inside his pocket distracted Troy from his irritation, and he took out his phone to see who'd texted him.

**ONE NEW MESSAGE FROM:**

**Starburns**

Troy rolled his eyes. He really didn't like Starburns- he didn't even know how Starburns got his number in the first place-, and he hated how he got the occasional forward from him (Starburns might not seem like it, but he was really superstitious about forwards, and always sent them to everyone in his contacts).

Troy kept walking as he opened the message.

**VIDEO MESSAGE**

Troy sighed again and clicked 'download'. Even though every single text he'd gotten from Starburns so far had had something to do about the ghost of a little girl killing him if the message wasn't set to ten people, Troy never deleted them until he read them, just on the off- chance that one of these times they'll actually contain some useful information.

**DOWNLOAD COMPLETE**

Troy stopped right in his tracks.

This was one of those times.

_"You...are..the...worst!" Annie yelled as she pinned Britta's arms to the ground. Britta struggled beneath her._

_"You...are..a..slut!" Britta yelled back as she tried to force Annie off of her. Annie gasped, and the moment she let her guard down Britta overpowered her and threw her aside. Annie slid through the oil and straight into the guys throwing money at them, causing them to cheer even more._

_Annie quickly got up and tried to run towards Britta, but she slipped on the oil and ended up sliding through it again until she collided with Britta, them both landing in a what was probably-very-painful-but-somehow-still-sexual position._

_"This is awesome!" The voice of Starburns- who was recording all of this on his cell phone-cheered. He threw a couple of dollar bills at Annie and Britta. _

The video ended, leaving Troy standing with his eyes and mouth wide. Shaking his head, he started heading back in the direction from which he came.

**4:26 PM**

Annie quickly peeled off her oil-clad shirt and pants and shuddered. They were very, well, _icky, _and she was glad to be out of them.

She reached into her bag, pulling out a skirt and cardigan- which she'd brought with her in just in case Britta finally decided to come to her senses and drop the whole _Annie's such a slut with her school girl routine_ schtick, because Annie really didn't have routine. Obviously that hadn't happened, though- and placed them neatly on Abed's coffee table.

_Calm down, _Annie thought to herself. _You and Britta made up, remember? You're friends now, and the whole Jeff thing is behind you now. _

Annie let out an exasperated breath and ran her hand through her hair, actually not caring about the oil residue now on her fingers.

Was their whole battle for Jeff really over? Would it _ever _be over? Annie couldn't even seem to figure out if she had feelings for Jeff, and obviously the same went for Jeff in regards to her.

Then a realization dawned on Annie: What if she and Britta really had never liked Jeff- _truly _liked him, too, and not just as a sexual object. Annie couldn't really pinpoint any moments where she- or Britta, at least from Annie's perspective- had really done something to show that she had true feelings for him.

The debate kiss was to win the debate, and also to release some sexual tension.

Britta and Jeff in paintball was just to release sexual tension.

Britta telling Jeff she loved him at the Tranny Dance was just to prove that he liked her more than Slater.

Britta and Jeff pretending to date and almost getting married the first week of the school year was just to get the other to admit that they didn't love them.

Jeff and Annie's kiss after the Tranny Dance was probably the most heartfelt of any of the moments; however, it could still be chalked up to them both being really lost and not knowing what to do because everything seemed so foreign (having feelings/ living in the moment), so they just found the first familiar thing (or, in this case, person) and found comfort in it.

_Besides, according to Jeff, that was just a 'mistake', _ Annie thought bitterly. Then the second part of the realization came to her: What if she and Britta were just toying with Jeff, not the way around? What if they were just using him to each try and make the other jealous? Annie could admit (albeit guiltilly) that she hadn't really had a desire to kiss Jeff the night of the Tranny Dance until he said that Britta had told him she loved him.

That can't be it, though, because she and Britta'd made up and Annie _still _kind of liked Jeff. But she also still kind of didn't like Britta. Ugh, this was too confusing for her to deal with right now.

Annie brought her attention back to her clothes. She was about to put on her skirt when she realized that most of her skin still had oil on parts of it, and she wouldn't be able to put on her clothes without them getting dirty, too.

She set the skirt down carefully and pulled a face. Hmm, how was she going to do this...

As Annie pondered her predicament, she heard a key turn in the lock of Abed's dorm. Before she could react and try to find something to cover herself, the door swung open.

"Abed, dude, you gotta see th-" Troy drew his attention away from his phone, which then fell out of his hand.

Annie gasped, grabbing a couch cushion and covering her body with it.

"Troy!" She shrieked. "What are you doing? Get out!"

Troy blinked thirty times in about ten seconds. "Wha...? I'm, uh, wait... I just..." He couldn't seem to keep his train of thought. His brain was being clouded with images of a very oily Annie standing in nothing more than her bra and underwear.

"Troy, why are you still here? _Leave!" _Annie picked up one of Abed's DVDs, throwing it at his head.

It hit him with a _whack, _successfully knocking him out of his stupor.

"Ow-Okay, really, I'm going! Damn!" Troy rubbed his head and quickly walked out of Abed's room, still holding the DVD that was thrown at him.

"Hey Troy, what's up?" Abed came walking toward him, holding a cup of ice cream and a spoon.

"Dude, why didn't you tell me that Annie was changing in your room?" Troy asked him, actually seeming kind of mad.

Abed cocked his head. "I didn't really think it was that important. Why?" Troy flushed and looked at the ground. Abed's eyes widened. "Did you walk in on her?"

"Well, yeah! I didn't mean to, though!" Troy said quickly.

"Why didn't you knock?" Abed asked pretty much the most obvious question in the world.

"Because I didn't know she was in there! I just used my spare key because it makes me feel important and all authoritive and I knew you wouldn't want to get up and answer the door because you get really comfy watching Full House marathons and-" Troy began to ramble.

"Troy, calm down. Tell me what happened." Abed stated, not unlike a parent or a therapist.

"Okay. I was going to go home with Pierce but then I got this video from Starburns and I really wanted to show it to you so came here-"

Abed held up a hand, signaling for Troy to stop. "What's the video about?"

"It's actually, um, Annie and Britta oil wrestling." He admitted sheepishly.

Abed nodded. "Cool. Okay, go on."

"So I came here and unlocked the door. When I walked in, Annie was standing there in her underwear and for like, a second, neither of us said a word. Then she started yelling at me to get out but I was kind of dazed so she threw one of your DVDs at me. A couple hit me in the head so I ran out here and then I saw you." Troy summed up. "So what do I do?"

"Hmm," Abed brought his finger to his chin thoughtfully. "What DVD was it?"

"Umm..." Troy looked at the case in his hands. "The Office: Season 6."

"Oh, okay, good." Abed sighed in relief. "Don't worry, Troy, everything's going to be fine."

"Really? You really think we can get past this?" Troy asked hopefully.

Abed nodded. "Yes. I am a little upset that Annie caused potential harm to one of my DVDs, but at least it was Season 6 of the Office. If, say, it was Season 1 or my Gold Collector's Edition of Twin Peaks, then it'd be a whole other story. But everyone knows that the Office peaked at Season 2, so I'll forgive her."

Troy let out a cry of frustration. "I meant for _me _and Annie, Abed!"

"Oh. Hmm, I'm not sure about that; this could go in a variety of different ways. One thing's for sure, though, nothing will get better if you don't talk to her about it."

As if awaiting her cue, Abed's door opened and out came a slightly irritated (and fully- clothed) Annie.

"Hey, Annie. I got some ice cream for you but it melted. No, that's a lie, I got hungry and ate it. I'm sorry, but it would have melted by now anyway. Okay, I'm going to go into my room while you and Troy talk." Abed stated casually. He took the DVD from Troy's hand and walked inside, shutting the door behind him.

Troy stuck his hands in his pockets nervously. Why did Abed have to leave him alone with Annie? Yeah, he got that he had to sort some stuff out with Annie, but did it have to be _right now? _Couldn't they just have an awkward couple of days around each other before things just kind of fell back into place and everything went back to normal?

Troy mentally scolded himself. _This is the best way, Troy. Don't put things off; clear the air while you still can._

"Annie, I-"

"Troy, it's fine," Annie cut him off. "I mean, it's not like you walked in on purpose. Obviously I would have rather it not happened but there's nothing we can do about it now. Let's just move past this, okay?"

Troy nodded in agreement. "I am really sorry, though."

"I know, Troy. If we just don't mention this to anyone, we can just put everything behind us and not mention this... incident ever again." Annie said decidedly.

They both stood there for a second before simultaneously making a move to leave at once.

"Well," They said in unision.

"Bye." Troy said quickly.

"Bye." Annie repeated.

They both turned in opposite directions, Annie heading back towards Abed's room (and maybe it was Troy's imagination, but did she pointedly knock on Abed's door and then give him a look over her shoulder?) and Troy heading out towards the parking lot.

Troy assumed that Pierce must have left by then, so he reached into his pocket for his phone. He realized that it was still on the floor of Abed's room. He'd left it there when he dropped it after he'd seen, um... yeah.

Shaking that thought off, Troy made a 180 and took one step in the direction of Abed's dorm before he stopped himself.

"I'll...uh...get it tomorrow." Troy muttered to himself before walking away.

**Sorry, I know this isn't my best work, I've just been really out of it lately. Which is alsoo why it's been such a ridiculously long time since my last update. **

**Okay, I'm not sure when the next chapter's going to be posted but I'll really try to make it soon! Please review!**

**-CC**


	10. The Night He ALMOST Revealed

_June 21st, 2010: The Night He _Almost _Revealed_

_**See you soon.**_

_**-Troy**_

**9:12 P.M.**

Troy looked to his left, hoping to say something to Jeff (like, for instance, telling him to make a decision), but Jeff wasn't there anymore. Troy looked at the exit just in time to see the curtains close over Jeff's retreating figure. Apparently he'd used Chang and Duncan's fight as an excuse to slip out, unnoticed, rather than make a decision.

Troy sat on the floor, not even caring that it was dirty. He shook his head at Jeff, even though Jeff couldn't see him.

Tonight was just an all around suckfest. First Annie leaves, then Britta says she loves Jeff (and while Troy isn't _super _depressed about that, because he doesn't like Britta in that way, she is yet _another _hot chick who wants Jeff, and Troy is jealous of that), then Jeff can't make up his damned mind, and now Jeff won't have to make up his mind. On top of all that, Abed had disappeared, and Annie was gone, so now he couldn't talk to anyone.

Troy felt an emptiness in his stomach even though it was filled past the brim with cookie. He felt like something was missing. And then it hit him like a ton of bricks.

Annie wasn't coming back.

She'd _said _that she was, but he knew the truth. He didn't know how, but he just knew. Annie and him had a strange connection where they could sense when something was off or wrong with the other one. It had taken Troy awhile to realize, but now he'd figured it out. She was moving to Delaware with Vaughn. Then something else hit him.

He may never see her again.

Something inside of him broke a little bit. Life without Annie? That just seemed... unreal. Unbearable.

Troy knew that this was a ridiculous thing to think. After all, he'd gone the first nineteen years of his life without knowing her (well, technically fifteen if you count high school, but he didn't really know her back then) and he'd been just fine. But to have her be in his life and then have her all of a sudden _not _be? It felt different. It felt like she was being taken away from him.

Troy thought of the last words he'd said to Annie before she'd left. They were: _See you soon._ Another part of him broke inside.

_Really, Troy? _His mind said to him. _You couldn't tell her that she was cool, or amazing, or perfect? Oh, and a high- five? _Really? _You couldn't even give her a hug or something else that shows affection. A hug shows that you care about someone. A high- five shows that you only think of her as a pal._

Troy wished he could have done one of those things. Hugged her, told her he cared about her as more than a friend. She would have been surprised, but she would have stayed with Vaughn. That wouldn't have really mattered, though. It would just have been nice to get it out there.

Troy thought about what he'd felt when Annie had left, and was hit with an epiphany. He'd felt relief. Not because he thought it would have been good to have her out of his life, but because he now didn't have to tell her how he felt.

The epiphany was that Troy had taken the easy way out by avoiding confrontation or sharing his emotions. He'd brushed them off like they didn't matter, and by doing this, he'd subconciously acted like the people he had these feelings for didn't matter.

Now, who does that sound like?

_No, _he told himself. _You are _not _Jeff. _

And he really wasn't. But at the moment, he was kind of acting like it.

Troy had to do something. He had to find Annie and tell her how he felt, or just tell her she's cool, or just simply give her a good- bye hug. It didn't matter what he did, as long as he did _something. _

Troy got up off the floor and ran toward the exit, ignoring the weird looks that people were giving him.

Jeff had ran from his problems. Troy was running to his.

He just prayed that Annie hadn't left yet. He really needed to see her.

He came to the entrance, out of breath, and smiled. Annie was still here. He would have gone up and said something to her, but she was busy talking to Jeff, and their conversation looked important, so he didn't want to interrupt.

Besides, he didn't have to tell her _right _now how he felt. She wasn't leaving anytime soon.

Troy smiled at Jeff and Annie (who were now hugging) before turning on his heel and walking in the opposite direction.

He'd tell her next year.

**I am so so SOO sorry about the lack of updates! I get into phases where I'm really into something, and that something was fanfiction until a couple of weeks ago, but now it's my obsession again! So I'll probably be updating again soon!**

**TO MC-AITLYN: Sorry I haven't gotten back to your message! I literally haven't checked my profile in weeks until today! I'll get back to you in a little bit; also, this chapter wasn't written in an insomnia- induced haze, but hopefully it's still good! Haha. Also, I've been reading your sequel to 'Door Number Two' and it's really fantastic! Keep it up!**

**TO CELTIC QUILL: If by happenstance you're reading this, then…okay, you got me, I just wanted to use the word happenstance. Naw, I'm just kidding, I actually **_**do **_**have news! I've (finally) read your review for my 'Blurred' story, and I have a second chapter in progress at the moment! Thank you so much for your review for that, I'm so glad **_**somebody **_**likes it, sheesh. The next chapter's almost finished, and so I'll be updating that story soon, too!**

**I love reviews like Troy loves butt stuff!**

**-CC**

**P.S. Okay, maybe I don't love them **_**that **_**much…(:**


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